My Affordable Art VI

With art collectors throughout the Affordable Art Fair family, we love finding out more about the inspiration behind their artwork purchases. In this week’s #myaffordableart blog, our arty experts talk about mesmerising colours, family connections, and the ability of a piece of art to change in meaning over time.

Read on for contributions from our Milan, Amsterdam, Stockholm and marketing teams.

MANUELA PORCU, Fair Director, Milan

I have to admit that I fall for colours every time, and in the case of #myaffordableart, I actually fell in love with these artworks before even seeing them! I remember that I was talking with Andrea Zardin, owner of Carte Scoperte Art Gallery, who was telling me about the new artists he was planning to bring to the 2018 Milan fair. From just his description, I was lost already. When I finally saw the artworks at the fair, I found the colours so hypnotising that they first caught the attention of my eyes and then my mind, until I realised, I needed to buy them.

I was lucky enough to meet Arjan Shehaj, the artist, who had the sweetest smile, an incredible story and a very promising career ahead of him. I remember that I waited until the very last minute to buy them because I didn’t want to make a purely emotional decision, but in the end, I just had to bring them home with me. I find that they have a visual poetry and they talk to me in a different way every day. I can see the commitment of the artist in the work and his will to transform the physical reality of the work into something bigger - something universal.

MATT J BRUCE, CRM & Data Manager

I grew up by the sea and, over the first 20 years of my life, grew quite accustomed to having it around. Seeing something every day as a youth, you can come take it for granted – even dismiss it as trivial. Only, when it's not there – when you've grown up and moved away – you come to realise that part of you is forever at home, looking out over the ocean.

That's the part of me that this piece by Philip Raskin reached out to. The moody seascape caught my eye (and a piece of my heart) at Battersea Spring this year. I was lucky enough to meet the artist there and then. Philip had come all the way down from Scotland to be there and we shared stories of being by the sea. I think we were both touched to have the opportunity for such a personal exchange. Connecting with someone else through a shared inspiration expressed as a piece of art is a feeling like nothing else. He wrote me a message on the back of the painting and I left the fair high as a kite, having just bought my first piece. I wonder if it feels that good every time?

When I moved house the following week, needless to say, my new painting was the first thing in through the door!

BLYTHE BOLTON, Fair Director, Amsterdam

At the 2017 Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, I was lucky enough to have a photograph of my iris taken by the lovely guys from Kollectiv Lumen. Felix Mayr and Olivier Collin operate a self-developed, macro-camera system, and seek to expose the unique beauty of the iris through their aptly named, Iris Project. My inner narcissist couldn’t resist buying my own blown up baby blue!

For me, the magic of living with art is witnessing new themes revealing themselves over time. I rehang artworks frequently to see what hidden ideas will surface when they’re situated in a new context. Placing the iris photograph next to this beautiful abstract textile work by my mum, Sharon Bolton, it suddenly struck me that actually she ‘wove' the iris too.

#myaffordableart reminds me every day to keep my eyes and mind open to new possibilities. And that so many of life’s masterpieces, are made by mothers!

BERNICE GLIMBERG, Fair Director, Stockholm

The colours of the piece immediately drew me in during the preview of the Stockholm fair in 2017. But I didn’t buy it right away. It wasn’t until the final day of the fair that I took the time to learn more about the piece, and if I’d loved the colours at first sight, it was nothing compared to how I felt after speaking to the artist, Clemens Bünting, from Dreipunkt Editions! He explained the complex techniques he had used to create it, applying paint to an LP record before applying 1 ton of pressure and creating the base print. He then finished the artwork with a thick circle of pink paint layered on top.

The title is “CB Records, The Unsung Songs, Hubabuba Trump” and I related to it on so many different levels. We all have unsung songs inside of us and for me this piece is a daily remember to try and sing them out loud.

We couldn’t agree more with Bernice and Manuela that colour is key! Plus Matt and Blythe’s personal connections with their pieces continue to demonstrate the personal and emotional connections that art can inspire!

If you like their style, follow the link below where you’ll find a curated collection of affordable artworks to peruse at your leisure. Don't forget to use the hashtag #myaffordableart and tag us on Instagram - we love hearing all about the artworks that have captured your hearts and transformed your interiors.